Fascinating rites of passage from around the world

Iria ritual - The ritual takes place in three parts—first, girls are inspected to make sure they are still virgins, second, they spend months in a fattening room to get their bodies ready for marriage, and third, they sing traditional songs by the riverside while the senior man of the tribe beat the spirits out of them with a stick. Finally, they throw a huge celebration.

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Scarification - This ritual is practiced by Sepik River tribes in Papua New Guinea and is a rite of passage for boys.

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Scarification - As the tribes believe that humans evolved out of crocodiles that once lived in the Sepik River, the boys are cut with razor blades to resemble the skin of a crocodile. The spirit of the crocodile then enters the body and consumes the boy, leaving him a man.

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Fulani whippings - Boys from the Fulani tribe of West Africa become men by exchanging whippings with a boy from a different tribe.

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Fulani whippings - The boys attempt to withstand the beating without showing weakness and the winner is deemed the strongest and bravest, thus worthy of being called a man.

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Fulani tattoos - The Fulani people also have a rite of passage for women. Using a sharpened piece of wood, a girl's face is painted with designs in black ink.

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Fulani tattoos - Once the tattoo is complete, she becomes a woman ready for marriage. If a girl shows her pain, she is considered too young to go through the ceremony and it is postponed.

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Algonquin Indian men - Young Algonquin Indian men go on a secluded journey to transition into adulthood. They are taken to a secluded area, caged, and given a drug intended to erase their memory, known as wysoccan.

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Algonquin Indian men - Those who survive the hallucinogenic and potentially lethal plant-drug and forget all memories of their childhood are considered men.

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Xhosa people - The Xhosa people of South Africa practice a rite of passage in which boys become men after being isolated in a hut and undergoing a circumcision.

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Xhosa people - During the ritual, a boy lives in a hut built by his family, has his head shaven, adheres to a certain diet and behaviors, and finally, is circumcised by a surgeon. When the boy heals, he is allowed to reenter the village and become a man.

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Matis tribe hunting trial - The Matis tribe of Brazil engage in a rite of passage for men to become hunters.

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Matis tribe hunting trial - They start by filling their eyes with a bitter poison to "improve" their vision, then are beaten and whipped, and finally injected with the poison of the giant leaf frog.

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Mentawai teeth sharpening -

The natives of the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia deeply value external beauty.

After young girls reach puberty, they make themselves more beautiful by filing their teeth into fine points with a rock and chisel.

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Aboriginal walkabout -

Many of the aboriginal tribes in Australia practice a ritual in which boys are sent into the wilderness for six months to survive on their own.

After the six months are over, they are considered by the tribe to be men.

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Vision quest - It is a common rite of passage for Native American tribes to send their young men out into the wilderness to fend for themselves and seek to interact with a guardian spirit.

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Vision quest - The transition from childhood to adulthood is marked by this attempt to find spiritual and life direction. The quest is often accompanied by fasting.

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Maasai warriors - The Maasai people of Tanzania and Kenya used to send their young men on a lion hunt as a rite of passage before being considered a warrior. Before they went on their lion hunt, they gave away everything they owned, were separated from the community, and then circumcised.

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Maasai warriors - In order to be considered a true warrior, the Maasai had to embark on a solo trip, stalk, and kill a lion using only a spear. Lions are now protected under government law and the Maasai have been forced to find other ways to honor this important rite of passage.

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Okiek tribe - The rite of passage practiced by the Okiek tribe in Kenya involves both boys and girls. During a ceremony, they are all circumcised and then secluded from the adults for a period of time.

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Okiek tribe - They paint their bodies with clay and are "haunted" by a mythical beast. They become adults when the elders show them the instrument used to create the roar of the beast and then practice it themselves.

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Hamar tribe - The young men of the Hamar tribe of Ethiopia must perform a cow-jumping ritual before being allowed to marry.

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Hamar tribe - After a boy is whipped by men of the tribe, he runs naked across the backs of four bulls lined up side by side. The ceremony is complete with dancing and feasting.

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Naghol - The Vanuatu people engage in a rite of passage known as naghol, or land jumping. Similar to the idea of bungee jumping, young men leap off wooden structures with a vine tied around their ankle.

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Naghol -

The idea behind the ritual is for the men to come as close to the ground as possible before being stopped by the vine. A completed jump is an expression of masculinity and marks the transition of boy to man.

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